NEW PALESTINE — The schedule may have read senior night for the New Palestine Dragons, but for senior quarterback Damon Hockett, it was his night with Indiana University head coach Tom Allen in attendance.
Hockett finished with more than 300 yards of total offense and found the end zone both through the air and on the ground, as he accounted for five total touchdowns (three on the ground and two through the air).
The Dragons blew past New Castle, 42-7, to improve to 5-3 overall and 5-1 in the Hoosier Heritage Conference. New Castle fell to 2-6 and 1-4 in the HHC.
New Palestine coach Kyle Ralph noted that his senior signal caller had put together his best outing of the season. It marked the first time a New Palestine offensive player went for over 300 yards of total offense since Charlie Spegal did it in 2018 against Anderson.
“His best performance. He actually came up to me, jokingly, and said, how about two weeks in a row with no turnovers? Obviously, he had a rough start to the year as a new quarterback and has not thrown a varsity pass before this season and is learning a system he needs to be in command of, and we took our lumps early with him,” Ralph said.
“He is starting to really throw his stride and he is throwing the ball well. He ran the ball exceptionally well when he had to for us and you are seeing a quarterback, hopefully, grow up right before your eyes.”
The Dragons wasted little time finding the end zone as Hockett connected with Blaine Nunnally for a 32-yard strike, and then called his number one play later from 14 yards out with 10:13 left in the first quarter.
Brendan Tanksley’s point-after-attempt gave the Dragons a 7-0 edge.
New Palestine’s defense would contribute to its next touchdown as Eli Hook recovered a fumble, and one play later Hockett found pay dirt again, this time from 17 yards out.
Tanksley’s boot would extend the lead to 14-0 with just under 10 minutes remaining.
The third touchdown of the quarter would come on a 14-yard scamper from running back Grayson Thomas out of the wildcat, as New Palestine led 21-0.
Hockett would close out the opening frame with a 61-yard touchdown run and five seconds remaining. Tanksley’s leg would push the lead to 28-0.
“We came out the gates hot, played well, executed, created turnovers and played with a lot of passion. That first half felt like Dragon football big time,” Ralph said.
The halftime break did little to stop New Palestine’s defense, which again contributed to a score as freshman defensive lineman Michael Thacker blocked a punt, and Hockett and Nunnally would again connect moments later. This time for a 35-yard touchdown to stretch the lead to 35-0.
Nunnally finished with a career-high 94 yards on six receptions, which is also a career high.
Hockett’s final touchdown of the game would come as he hit Isaiah Thacker for a 30-yard strike, pushing the advantage to 42-0.
New Castle would score in the closing minutes, as quarterback Tyson Lewis drilled Kyle Gabbard for a 45-yard touchdown.
Offensively, New Palestine finished with 382 yards, while the Red Rage defense was held to 179 yards of total offense and Lewis was sacked six times.
It also marked the second consecutive week New Palestine’s starting defense finished with a shutout.
“That is a hard offense to stop. We have not gotten to the quarterback well this year as a general statement, and teams have not been able to get to their quarterback very well this year either, so to see both those things happen was huge for us. Proud of our guys up front, had some nice blitzes we executed tonight. Coverage and pressure create sacks,” Ralph said.
Since losing to Mount Vernon on Sept. 10, New Palestine has won four straight and its offense has scored 174 points, while allowing only 32.
New Palestine 52, Shelbyville 0
NEW CASTLE (2-6, 1-4);0;0;0;7;—;7
NEW PALESTINE (5-3, 5-1);28;0;14;0;—;42
NP—Damon Hockett 14 run (Brendan Tanksley kick), 10:13
NP—Hockett 17 run (Tanksley kick), 9:54
NP—Grayson Thomas 14 run (Tanksley kick), 6:49
NP—Hockett 61 run (Tanksley kick), 0:05
NP—Blaine Nunnally 35 pass from Hockett (Tanksley kick), 7:49
NP—Isaiah Thacker 30 pass from Hockett (Mallari Johnson kick), 0:18
NC—Kyle Gabbard 45 pass from Tyson Lewis (Ian Thurlow kick), 5:22
